GROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING 66 Several lssues ago, tn GWS #61, twenty children and teenagers wrote about whether or not they felt that adults took them serlously, and whether they mlnded age-restrlctlons on certain rights, such as o the rtght to vote. Some minded thls more than others, and some may mlnd more (or less) at another time tn thetr lives than they do now. h What can the young people who do mtnd do with thelr frustraUon? How can they try to get certaln rights for themselves when they have so llttle access to the very mechanisms, poliUcal and social, by which they might work to obtain them? Jan Hunt, in this issue, quotes her son's lnstlnctlve recognlUon of this paradox 'Children can't vote for the rlght to vote.' That belng so, lt seems clear that chtldren need allles ln the adult population, older people who belleveJust as strongly in the need for How can a chlld llke thts one gatn some of the rtglrts hc ctrildren's rights as children themselves do. It's tricky - it wouldn't be now lacks? Childrcn's riglrts arc the subJect of thls approprlate for adults to do all the work on behalf of children's rights, lssue's Focus, pafcs 23-25. any more than it would make sense for whites to be the only ones working on behalf of blacks, or school olllcials the only ones lobbying INSIDE THIS ISSUE: for homeschooling legislatton (lf we can even lrnaâ‚Źllne such a thlngl) NEWS &REPORTS p. 2-3 The impulse for any such struggle has to come from withtn the group ttself. But glven the nature of the present set-up, children may be particularly tn need of allies. As John Holt wrote tn the openlng pages CFIALLENGES & CONCERNS p. 3-a of Escape ITom Childhmd, 'I make myself - uninvited - a spokesman Opentng Our Homes to Communtty Llfe, for chlldren lrn thls matter because they have so few other spokesmen Teachtng Neighbor's Chtldren and are ln so poor a poslUon to speak for themselves.' The wrlters ln this lssue's Focus demonstrate that young people OUESTIONING STAIVDARDIZED TESTS already have adult allles - not enough, perhaps, but several who have p.4-6 already done some serious thinking and writing on the subject of children's rights. Having had more erperience with the way the larger Not a Useful Measure, Strange Answers, societ5r operates, these adults may be ln a better position than the If You Hcue to Test children they are wrlUng about to think about strategy, tactlcs. Thus the discusslon in this issue centers on the quesflon of how we will be WATCHING CHILDREN LEARN most likely to get rights for children, and as such it has implications p.6-7,29-31 for other struggles as well. ' Life at Home, Playing Violin in Nursing Some may be wondering whether 'rights' means the freedom to Home, Worktng on a Shtp, Audiences for do anything at all. Jan Hunt makes the point that a child does not Wdters, Foreign-born Children, necessarlly have the righl to an expensive item in a store. But neither Unconsclous l-eamlng does an adult, she adds, and this ls really what we have to remember. John Holt said he was argutng for the rlght of chlldren 'to do what any BOOKREX/IEXMS p.8-lo adult may legally do.'To whatever extent laws stop adults from dolng "anything at all,' they would stop children, even children with far more rlghts than they now have. It's a matter of allowlng ctrlldren to be real 1989 DIRECTORY& RESOURCE LIST members of their society, subJect like everyone else to the restrictions p. rl-22 of certain laws, but also able, like everyone else, to work to change those laws. FOCUS: CHILDREN'S RIGFITS p.23-25 A central questlon in this issue's discussion is whether attltudes Thoughts from Howard Cohen, Bob must change before rights wtl be granted, or whether the grantlng of Eranklln, Merrltt Cllfton, and Jan Hunt rights will be what forces attitudes to change. Perhaps both of these ldnds of changes must progress simultaneously.As attltudes change, TALKING WTITI YOTING PEOPLE: support for chtldren's rtghts will grow. But rtghts are useful levers - as A DISCUSSION WTTI{ THREE Howard Cohen and Bob Flankltn call them - for making change, for HOMESCHOOLERS p.25-27 demandtng that soclety recognlze a partlcular group. And tn the meantime? Chtldren may have to watt for some klnds of changes, but they shouldn't have to wait for adults to treat them, as HOWADULTS LEARN: ONE E)GERImuch as posstble, as lf they are as worthy of respect (or, as Merritt ENCEWTIH SELF-EDUCATION p. 27 -2a Clifton prefers to think of it, consideration), and as likely to be productlve and capable, as we would consider them if we had already RESOURCES & RECOMMENDATIONS granted them the rights in question. This improves things for children p.29 rlghtnow, and may get us to a point at whtch denying children rights no longer makes sense. Susannah Sheffer o
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